Step 1: Ingredients

- Battery drill/screwdriver (ours is the cannibalised motor from an old one)

- Small drill bits (that match the diameter of the wire you will be using)

- Mains wire (we ended up getting a big roll but you can use the grey sort, often easy to get from skips or lying around. You'll want the stuff that is quite stiff, we found 2.5mm squared core to be best)

hi! We are doing your project for physics and we saw that you used two motors. Do you have a different design that includes only one motor and please show us at different angles. we love your project the g mail is richardhtet98@gmail.com. and we, cant solder copper.

You could try using fluz to get the heat to transfer more effectively. We have had success with both gas + electric soldering irons. You may need to try a higher powered one (we now use a 40w electric iron) - although we have burned out a number of them through heavy use.

amazing, will someone tell me if there is any other method of joining the wires together besides soldering? maybe if i used hot glue and then scraped off any excess glue that might get in the way of the ball bearing?

to make a loop or jump, just make a straight piece of track, then find something round and stiff and the size of the required loop and bend the track around that. i used a can of beans and it worked perfectly. hope this helps!!

you could have added more wire, connecting the wrapped around wire of the shaft. this would give the ball a resting place as it sits for the ride, otherwise the ball may actually slide backwards. An alternative to the above is to have the rotating shaft with the above mentioned rests. and instead of the rails shown above, create a spiraling rail for the ball to ride along as it glides up the shaft. you can give these rails support by adding rails to them, idk it seems to add more of a endless roller coaster effect for me but hey its your project do whatever you feel comfortable.

The ball bearings were just some of the stuff we had lying around in our workshop space. Sorry we can't be any more specific - we've had them for ages... Try asking around in some hardware stores or motor spares places..

I usually get mine for free from the scrap piles at transmission shops or mechanics.Ask First,lol.If you want BIG bearings,try truck stops or machinery rebuilders.Most are happy to give them away,you usually just have to grind through the outer race.Hope this helps!

Thanks for the responses. BTW: I love the method for straightening the 12 gauge copper. It works amazingly well. It also seems to stiffen the copper. I just used a vice to clamp one end in, then mounted the drill to the other end.

There needs to be a lot of heat for this to work well, the author used a modified soldering iron to distribute the heat over the track spacer. Its possible that your soldering iron is too low of a wattage. Im just about finished with mine and i can tell you that a butane hobby torch and alligator clips is the way to go. Use a little soldering flux to paint the joint before you apply heat. It will help wick the solder in between the wires. It takes practice. i almost gave up on mine as being a lost cause but after i was able to walk away from it for little while i was able to finish it off and its looking really excellent. just finishing the ball lifter. Also i used a piece of shrink tubing to connect the rod to the motor, i found it easier for me then rapping the wire around the motors axial. stick with it.

I have every intention of building one of these - "someday" when I have spare time...

I'd like to add a magnetic transfer mechanism that picks the ball off one track and sets it on another; probably use a rotating arm that goes just over the top of the ball at a stopped postition (or maybe in the middle of a track, so it's random) and then past a blockade that scrapes the ball off while it's above the other track. Any thoughts on that, or other mechanisms to add?

Each track joint is made as a butt joint - the ends are offered up to each other and soldered.

First tip is to use side cutters with one flat edge - meaning a cutting side with no bevel to it. This gives you better flat ends to your track sections. When cutting like this, sometimes the copper won't cut perfectly. Try twisting the wire off just after cutting, rather than pulling apart to reduce the shearing.

Next, when joining two track sections:

Roughly solder one track side together with a quick solder join to hold it the two pieces together.

Next, line up the other track as perfectly as possible, using the other solder join as a lever / extra support to hold the second (and better) solder join.

Once you have a decent join, you can touch your soldering iron on the first temporary join and reposition, using the better join as a guide.

This technique should allow you to get usable solder joins. If you are struggling after a good few attempts you can try overlapping the track joins. This will be a bit easier to solder and you can always try the butt joins later. Soldering is rewarded by practice and patience :)

About This Instructable

Bio:cups of tea and cake fuel a collaborative environment in which we make electronic things and tinker in our workshop. We started FriiSpray, an open virtual graffiti project.
Stuart, Richard + Dave
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